GS Paul amp; Ravi Dhaliwal
In the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections, the hapless ‘Majhails’ — those belonging to the border belt of Majha — are silent as of now as to which way the political wind will blow.
The region comprises four districts — Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Pathankot — and sends 25 MLAs to the 117-member Assembly. The electorate is largely disappointed with the government over its inability to tackle the problems of drug abuse, farm crisis, dilapidated health and education infrastructure, besides non-implementation of the special economic zone (SEZ). Further, lack of jobs for youngsters, corruption in government offices, and poor law and order figure high on their list of dissatisfaction. Incidents of sacrilege and missing ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib remain among the most contentious issues.
Pyare Lal Seth, president, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, says his fraternity has yet to make up its mind on which way they will go, as a major political parties — the Congress, SAD-BSP, and BJP and its allies — hasn’t named their candidates on most of the seats. It will be a daunting task for the Congress to repeat its feat of 2017 this time. The party had claimed 22 seats, while SAD won two and the BJP one. AAP failed to open its account. Rattan Singh Randhawa, a farmer, says the Congress may have changed its CM but the party remains the same. “They only fight among themselves, not for the people. Majha has emerged as the centre of drug abuse due to its proximity to the International Border. Similarly, the issues of rise of gangster culture in connivance with police, inadequate job opportunities, poor health and education facilities and inadequate compensation to farmers who till their land beyond barbed fencing never find a place on the priority list of any of the parties,” he said. Amid the burning economic, religious and social issues, the repeal of the farm laws may not help the BJP, which is contesting in alliance with the Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt), while the Congress and SAD-BSP are in a tight contest. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) is yet to make its presence felt here.
Having made the 2015 sacrilege at Bargari a political issue to target the SAD during the 2017 elections, the ruling Congress may be wary this time of the fallout of fresh “sacrilege” attempts at the Golden Temple and Kapurthala gurdwara ahead of the polls.
A fractured SAD has gone full throttle in Majha to regain its lost political ground by taking the lead in announcing candidates and launching rallies and door-to-door campaign to counter the dent. The major issues they face include the disappearance of 328 “saroops” of Guru Granth Sahib and drug smuggling, in which former minister Bikram Majithia has been booked.
Sarbjit Singh Verka, an advocate, feels the only party against which there is no major negative sentiment remains the AAP, yet it will be difficult to say whether it will make an impact.
“The gangster culture, drugs, corruption, sand and liquor mafias have been prevalent in both SAD and Congress regimes. Similarly, the missing saroops from SAD-dominated SGPC’s possession and sacrilege (2015 Bargari) still haunt the Akalis, whereas the recent ‘sacrilege’ incidents may worry the Congress. So, it will be challenging for both parties. On the drug issue, the Congress failed to root it out, as was promised by former CM Capt Amarinder Singh. An FIR was lodged during Charanjit Channi’s tenure, but SAD leader Majithia is still out of reach. It is unchartered territory for the AAP here, and may prove to be the dark horse this time,” he says.
The Congress finds itself in a tight spot too as the employees, health workers and teachers took to the streets over regular jobs. Prof GS Sekhon, president, Amritsar unit, Punjab Federation of College and University Teachers, says: “We were the sufferers under the Congress regime. We will vote for the party that gives us in writing that it will implement the 7th Pay Commission.” GNDU’s research student Jatinder Veer Singh, a first-time voter, says they will look for the party that has plans to generate job opportunities in government and private sectors. In the Hindu belt of Pathankot, Sujanpur, Bhoa and Dinanagar too, no clarity has emerged among voters, unlike in 2017. Insiders say the BJP may contest all seats, as Capt Amarinder Singh’s PLC wields no influence here. The state BJP has been asked to focus on 45 seats that have a Hindu population of more than 60 per cent. All four seats fall in the category.
The seats are primarily Hindi-speaking. In the 2007, 2012 and 2017 polls, when the seat sharing agreement was in place between the SAD and the BJP, all the four seats used to go to the BJP because of its demographic profile which is heavily loaded in favour of the Hindu community.
Another key factor is the controversy over Dogri certificate. People of area tend to be short-statured and the Dogri certificate used to help youth desirous of joining the armed forces some advantage in height. However, several years ago this certificate was scrapped. In Bhoa and Dinanagar, the mood is sombre with a majority of the voters claiming they need nothing but employment for their children.
- 1 Sujanpur
- 2 Bhoa
- 3 Pathankot
- 4 Gurdaspur
- 5 Dinanagar
- 6 Qadian
- 7 Batala
- 8 Sri Hargobindpur
- 9 Fatehgarh Churian
- 10 Dera Baba Nanak
- 11 Ajnala
- 12 Rajasansi
- 13 Majitha
- 14 Jandiala
- 15 Amritsar North
- 16 Amritsar West
- 17 Amritsar Central
- 18 Amritsar East
- 19 Amritsar South
- 20 Attari
- 21 Tarn Taran
- 22 Khem Karan
- 23 Patti
- 24 Khadoor Sahib
- 25 Baba Bakala
PUNJAB VOTES 2022: Despondency, no wave
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